Keywords
Overseas Sinology
Historiography
Translation and reception
Submitted : 2026-05-06
Accepted : 2026-05-21
Published : 2026-06-05
Abstract
This article reviews the key works of North American oracle-bone studies, focusing on its historical development, as well as its translation and reception within the Chinese academic context. The existing scholarship can be divided into three major phases: the early stage (1910s-1930s) , which focused on the collection and cataloguing of oracle-bone inscriptions; the stage of disciplinary formation (1950s-1990s), characterized by palaeographic and linguistic interpretation; and the stage of interdisciplinary expansion since the 21 century, marked by the increasing integration of linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, history, and comparative studies. The translation and reception of North American oracle-bone scholarship in China have taken various forms: the translations of influential monographs, historiographical introductions, and studies of translation practices. The review shows that while North American oracle-bone studies occupies a significant position in global oracle bone studies, it still lacks systematic bibliographic compilation, while its translation, dissemination, and reception in the Chinese academic context remain insufficiently studied.
References
Xu, Zixiao. (May 16, 2025). 120 years of overseas oracle bone studies. Henan Daily, p. 12.
Couling, Samuel. (1914). The oracle bones from Honan. Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 45, 65–75.
Hopkins, Lionel Charles. (1917). The misreading of some inscribed characters by the Han scholars. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 49(4), 789-798.
Hopkins, Lionel Charles. (1921). The Honan relics: A new investigator and some results. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 53(1), 29-45.
Hopkins, Lionel Charles. (1922). The sovereigns of the Shang dynasty, B.C. 1766-1154. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 54(1), 69-89.
Menzies, James Mellon. (1917). Oracle records from the Waste of Yin. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh.
Menzies, James Mellon. (1972). Oracle records from the Waste of Yin (supplement). Taipei: Yee Wen Publishing Co.
Britton, Roswell S. (Ed.). (1935). The Couling-Chalfant collection of inscribed oracle bone. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
Britton, Roswell S. (Ed.). (1938). Seven collections of inscribed oracle bone. New York: Chalfant Publication Fund.
Britton, Roswell S. (Ed.). (1939). The Hopkins collection of inscribed oracle bone. New York: Printed by General Offset Co., for the Chalfant Publication Fund.
Chou, Hung-hsiang. (1976). Oracle bone collections in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Dubs, Homer H. (1951). The date of the Shang period. T’oung Pao, 40(4-5), 323-335.
Chang, Kwang-chih. (1980). Shang civilization. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Serruys, Paul L.-M. (1974). Studies in the language of the Shang oracle inscriptions. T’oung Pao, 60, 12-120.
Keightley, David N. (1978). Sources of Shang history: The oracle-bone inscriptions of bronze age China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Shaughnessy, Edward L. (2006). The Zhouyuan oracle bones and their significance. In New sources of early Chinese history. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Takashima, Ken-ichi. (2004). How to read Shang oracle-bone inscriptions: A critique of the current method. Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 76, 5-26.
Takashima, Ken-ichi, Serruys, Paul L.-M. (2010). Studies of fascicle three of inscriptions from the Yin ruins. Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.
Keightley, David. N. (2014). These bones shall rise again: Selected writings on early China. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Cook, Constance A. (2017). Ancestors, kings, and the Dao. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Shankman, Steven, Durrant, Stephen W. (2002). Early China/Ancient Greece: Thinking through comparisons. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Raphals, Lisa. (2013). Divination and prediction in early China and ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Xing, Wen. (2022). A review and reflection on oracle bone studies in North America. Trends in Chinese Historical Research, (1).
Britton, R. S. (Ed.). (1935). The Couling-Chalfant collection of inscribed oracle bone. Shanghai: The Commercial Press.
Britton, Roswell S. (Ed.). (1938). Seven collections of inscribed oracle bone. New York: Chalfant Publication Fund.
Britton, Roswell S. (Ed.). (1939). The Hopkins collection of inscribed oracle bone. New York: Printed by General Offset Co., for the Chalfant Publication Fund.
Menzies, James Mellon. (1917). Oracle records from the Waste of Yin. Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh.
Menzies, James Mellon. (1972). Oracle records from the Waste of Yin (supplement). Taipei: Yee Wen Publishing Co.
Keightley, David N. (2022). The Ancestral landscape: Time, space, and society in the late Shang dynasty. (Chen, Jiali, trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.
Chang, Kwang-chih (2013). Shang civilization (Zhang, Liangren & Gu, Xiaohua, trans.). Beijing: Sanlian Books.
Shaughnessy, Edward L. (2018). Xiguan Hanji: An overview of western Sinological studies on excavated texts. Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.
Jin, Yang. (2015). A study of David N. Keightley’s English translation of oracle-bone divination inscriptions. In Collected Studies on Excavated Texts (Vol. 2), edited by Research Center for Excavated Texts, Southwest University & Institute of Chinese Language and Documents, Southwest University, Chengdu: Bashu Publishing House.